the armoured avenger
by lazetta croft
Summary: tony stark is now a part of the avengers. after taking on the chitauri, the avengers are staying with tony. but, is everything the same? (whump!) or-the avengers watch some videos of tony's past. Under rewrite for bad details.
1. Chapter 1

Shawarma. Not a nice way to patch up. But after fighting some flying aliens, anything kinda makes up for a bit of relaxation.

To cut the long story short, Tony was bone tired. New York was , well , peachy. Even if the nuke hadn't hit the city.

Tony trembled in the bed. It was just a day after the chitauri; the hellicarier was there to pick him up. Them, actually. And much to Tony's annoyance, Nick 'proposed'

the fact that the avengers living in the Stark tower would be...

 _'Absolutely disastrous.'_ Thought Tony.

He barely knew the avengers. He didn't trust Natasha, had fought with Thor on their first meeting, pretty much detested the cap, and hawkeye was a spy too. Bruce, he was willing to invite. Not like he had a choice, though.

Tony was pretty much skeptical about the moving in stuff. He liked his privacy. And he had been having panic attacks since Afghanistan. He worked himself to insanity, drunk himself to insanity, and did insane things to the point of insanity.

The first night was a blunder, in fact.

The team was tired, and Tony suggested what he wanted. Drinks.

So they came up to his bar, drank to their fancy , and didn't hesitate to fall asleep, on their respective couches. Tony, however, seasonal in this sport, drank to the point of insanity,as usual, and trudged towards his lab. Science, hell yeah. And Steve, being Steve, had taken to his new room.

He entered his lab.

"Jarvis, bring up the damage details for the suit."

A blue hologram of the suit came up to his desk, absolutely battered. The damaged parts were marked up in red.

"I have to build the helmet again." Said Tony, sighing. Cap had yanked his faceplate away like it was nothing.

A memory of the day's fight engulfed him. For the record, it was fun fighting in a team. People to talk to. To joke with. People to protect and to count on when you needed it.

Except the time in the portal.

He had been alone. Pepper hadn't picked up. The comms went offline. Tony Stark had witnessed his insignificance in the universe.

And had seen how vulnerable they were, in the universe of otherworldy beings.

Tony felt his breathe quicken.

"Sir?"

He felt himself lose his grip on reality.

* * *

Steve was woken up by an alarming sounding Jarvis, who struggled to manage his monotone and deadpans. Steve didn't like the concept of having an electronic being who could watch him while he slept. It was like communicating with god itself. And it was unnerving.

"I apologize for waking you up at this time captain, but sir needs assistance. He is on the couch of the lab."

Steve ,was naturally annoyed at this time of the day, or night. (whatever?) Really? For all Steve knew, Tony had Several bots at his disposal and could ask them for help if he needed a milkshake in the middle of the time where normal people slept.

"Jarvis..." He yawned," Just tell the overgrown baby that his Capsicle is disabled ."

"I am sorry , but its an emergency."

Steve grumbled before throwing his blanket aside and skulking towards the elevator.

* * *

Steve found the lab a revolutionary place filled with technology. He had never seen it before, but had seen Tony working with Bruce. Bruce seemed to be the only one who could deal with him.

He was startled to find it empty.

"Tony?" He called out.

And then he saw him.

Tony was hidden below his desk, trembling. He was curled up into himself, and was breathing heavily, mumbling whatnot.

A panic attack.

Okay. Steve had no idea how to deal with this. He had, with Bucky. But he barely knew Tony. Tony hate him, for a fact.

Why had Jarvis called him?

Steve slowly walked towards Tony and gently touched his forehead to take his temperature.

Tony emitted a blood curdling cry and flinched away from Steve.

"Jarvis, help me! Call the team."

"On it, captain."

Steve heard the desperation in his voice. He looked at Tony again.

"Tony you gotta calm down." Steve said, feeling like punching himself. He dealt with Bucky better. Tony, he was struggling with. And Steve wasn't sure what was causing the attack.

And why, Tony Stark, of all people, was having an attack?

Natasha ran into the lab, with the rest of the team at her heel. She cursed, as she saw Tony.

She leaned closer to him. "Tony?" She called out, softly.

Tony didn't reply. All Steve heard was _his harsh breaths._

He looked at Thor, who looked as clueless as he felt. Clint, however, looked like he understood what was happening, and let Natasha take the lead.

"Sshhhh. Tony, you are home, safe in the tower." Natasha gently brought her hand around Tony's, and when she noted he didn't flinch because of the contact, she grasped Tony's shivering body and pulled him out.

Bruce watched, horrified.

"You're with the avengers, Tony listen. Snap out of it. "

The other avengers stood there confused. Bruce bent towards Natasha ."What are you doing?"

"Later."

Tony opened his eyes. They were unfocused and red. Bruce crouched and pulled him close.

And then,tears came, a finishing touché for the traumatic dream.

Steve, stood up. "Jarvis?"

"Yes sir?"

"What the hell was this?" He croaked.

"Sir was having an anxiety attack."

"Now why is that?" Clint turned his head towards Natasha.

"Later. First we get stark In his room."

 **Important: This story had one of the worst writing styles I have ever written, so I am revamping this. Slowly.**


	2. Chapter 2

**hey guys! i got positive feedback and decided tokeep writing. this chapter has a lot of angst. dont worry, i will bring the story back to the way it started.**

 **by-the-by, do you think that i should post this story in the avengers column? reply someone!**

 **khushboo.**

He was still moaning when Natasha tucked him in the bed. She turned towards the ceiling.

" Jarvis, inform if anything happens?"

"sure."

Natasha motioned the avengers, who were gaping at tony ,to exit the room.

(outside the room xxxx outside the room)

"what did just happen?" bruce eyed Natasha out of the corner of his eyes.

"umm. Jarvis?" she gazed hopefully at the ceiling. "you have some videos, right?"

"absolutely correct miss romanoff." Jarvis deadpanned.

(few minutes later xx few minutes later)

The avengers are sitting in the movie breaks the silence ," not a word to tony. These videos will tell us why tony has ptsd. Jarvis start the videos." She deadpanned.

 _ **"it begins really blur, but soon everything clears up, tony can be seen, about seven years old. He is sitting at a shiny and royal bed, screwdrivering a device in piece. An old man enters staring pityingly at the infant . tony happily looks at him . "Jarvis, will this make father happy?"**_

"what!" bruce shouts. "Jarvis was a live butler?!"

"apparently I am, dr. banner," Jarvis intervened. "but I was not alive until sir's real butler died. His death made sir to invent me."

"he told you this?" steve asked.

"well guessed captain."

 _ **J** **arvis nods. "but it might not be the good time too….. but you may try." He sighed, watching the boy bobbing up and down.**_

Natasha sighed, "guys….." she began.

Steve thrust a finger on her lips and she knew that they would eventually close the video. The truth was unbearable.

 _ **" tony walks to the lab. His eyes turn fearful. He walks slowly towards howard, who is sitting and working on a blueprint." Dad….. I made t-this for you…."**_

"why is he so afraid?" steve points out. Thor raises his hand to indicate silence.

 ** _" a slap makes him stop. He stagers back, circuit boad on the floor. Howard picks a rod by his side and gives a heavy blow on tony's shoulder."shut up!" he screams . " you are a stark! What will I do of this?! You are a disgrace!"tony begins to cry . he picks up the hammer and trashes it on tony's head. A line of blood oozes out. " starks don't cry!"he screams again._**

"stop!" Steve yells. "somebody has edited this… howard was a good man…."

"steve," Natasha speaks lightly. "people can change easily. Specially if someone close to them goes missing."

Steve felt his eyes go wide.

 ** _"tony is sitting in his bed. There is a large bruise at his cheek. A bandage adorns his head._**

 ** _"come out you rascal!"_**

 ** _Tony nearly falls of the bed at the voice. He scampers and hides under the desk. Jarvis is running behind him._**

 ** _"please don't s-sir…he is just recovering….."_**

 ** _Howard stabs him with the knife he is carrying in his hand. Two maids run and catch Jarvis . they pull back._**

 ** _Tony whimpers._**

 ** _"come out! Maria is not at home….. we can have a father son bonding time!" he appears little woozy, probably drank half a cabinet of wine,only._**

 ** _Suddenly, he peers down the desk, scaring the daylights and nightlamps out of tony._**

 ** _"there you are! you know, we lost the contract today. A-all because of you!"_**

 ** _He begins with pulling tony with his collar, and kicking him to the ground. Then he kicks him in the gut._**

 ** _"worthless little freak!" he exclaims stabbing_ tony _in the gut._**

Natasha pauses the video, looking at the avengers.

"what do you think now?"


	3. Chapter 3

Steve felt his stomach churning in guilt. His gaze dropped.

Howard was a good man.

Howard was really a good man.

Was.

"Natasha," clint croaked. " are you sure this video wasn't edited?"

"nope." She spoke as nothing happened.

"aren't there any happy moments?"

"there might be. I didn't bother checking any further."

Steve piped in. " who made these?"

"haters for howard, gathering proofs to do him in."

"nat,' bruce choked out some words." I want to watch ahead."

"what the…" clint, of course.

"okay."

 _ **The video starts again, showing tony with his bots. He looks twelve years old. He waves a goodbye to Jarvis, who gives him a pained look, one hand clutching his stomach. There is a scar on his forehead, result of the hammer. He hands are filled with burns and cut, and he limps.**_

"how did we miss the scars?" bruce asks.

Jarvis intervened and would have rolled his eyes if he could. "he uses medication , courtesy of stark technology."

"oh." Bruce falls back in his seat.

 **"tony looks at a board above his head. It's a hostel. He walks inside. After a few minutes, he is in a room, there is a boy already inside. He is extremely dark .**

 **"aren't you tony stark?"**

 **"huh?" tony fails to register his voice.**

 **"aren't you tony stark?"**

 **"yeah." Tony nearly flinches at his name.**

 **"okay. I am james Rhodes, you can call me rhodey."**

 **"thank you but no thank you rhodes." He answers coldy, wondering if this guy will beat him too.**

 **"I see, you will adjust don't worry. All Richie richs are like that before they meet our physics teacher.**

 **With that last smirk, he leaves the room.**

 **The scene changes to tony talking to Jarvis on the phone.**

 **"I don't like it here…"**

 **"I know tony, but it is the only way I can keep you away from this monster…."**

 **"I know j…."**

 **Few tears fall.**

 **"I know."**

"Is this supposed to be a happy memory?" clint remarks.

"atleast it is free from howard." Natasha pops up disdainfully.

Bruce nods in agreement.

 **" tony is sitting in the café , alone. there is a bruise under his eye. he is sitting there, not eating his lunch. Few boys are glaring daggers at him. One of them walks up to him.**

 **"whats up, freak?"**

 **tony doesn't reply.**

 **"I said something!" the boy exclaims. The whole cafeteria turns towards them.**

 **Ignore. ignore. ignore.**

 _ **The boy pulls tony on the floor by his collar. Tony winces .**_

 _ **"who do you think you are!" the boy screams. "who do you think? Don't get all cocky because your father is howard stark!"**_

 _ **The word bounces in tony's mind.**_

 _ **He sobs, and runs away.**_

 _ **He dashes in his room, bumping into people along the way, and closes the door.**_

 _ **"are you fine?"**_

 _ **The voice makes him jump.**_

 _ **He turns to see Rhodes.**_

 _ **"i-I actually,…..t-there …the boy.h-he….." tony stutters trying to hold tears.**_

 _ **"don't tell. You're safe with me. "**_

 _ **And that time james Rhodes becomes rhodey.**_


	4. Chapter 4

**okay, first of all, i am very sorry. i actually forgot my password, and i had to wait for a day till popsicle.(my dad) fixed it. actually, i forgot it quite long before, but my computer remembered it.**

 **another sorry for that i will be dissapearing from third december. my exams have started again from fifth and i have to study. (i am twelve years old actually) they will end on twenty sixth but i will try my best to cme back for all those who have reviewed and followed me.**

 **so lets begin my doleful story.**

Steve glances at thor who stares in his lap . bruce is smiling at rhodey. Natasha looks at clint if he is satisfied. He nods.

Natasha, who doesn't pick the sign at all speaks," are we done?"

"nope." Clint smiles. "I want to see what his arc reactor does."

"I do have that video." Natasha looks concerned somehow, but returns the smile.

(few minutes later xx few minutes later)

Natasha settles down on the couch. The video starts.

" ** _tony is posing for a picture with a soldier. He makes some puns, but is friendly in his own way._**

 ** _Then, the explosion._**

 ** _There is confusion , panic alarm._**

 ** _Soldiers run out of the jeep to defend tony but are shot dead._**

 ** _At last, tony himself jumps out.(and Is ridiculed by steve for it.) and shelters himself behind a rock. He begins to type on his phone, but a missile lands right before him._**

 ** _He tries to escape but falls and the missile explodes sending tony flying._**

 ** _He is shown with a bloodied bulletproof vest before he faints."_**

"that was…" steve nearly losts himself for the moment. "must've hurt….a lot….."

Natasha nods.

 _ **"tony is shown lying down, not like he wanted to, forced down. His clothes are bloodied, and he is shouting. A nearly bald man is…..operating on him? Must be difficult to think, this seemed torcher to the man lying before him."**_

"they operated while he was awake?" bruce seemed to speak for the first time.

" yep." Widow speaks.

"that was the most disturbing part." Steve mutters.

"but nat," clint inquires. " what does this tell about he reactor?"

"oh well you see, the shrapnel was not out completely, the reactor is basicly an electromagnet keeping the shrapnel away from tony's heart."

Clint losts his words for a moment.

"what happens without it? I mean, what are the symptoms? Coz it could help us in the field, just in case."

Natasha says nothing .

A video begins.


	5. Chapter 5

**okay, this one is little short, i am alittle jumpy. exams are coming after all!  
**

 **and yupp, i am not abandoning this story!**

 **i will also try to write during the english paper, i am excellent in english, i scored second rank in delhi in english olympiad and am proud!**

 **anyway, enough boasting.**

 **i now begin the story.**

 _ **Tony slumps out of his elevator. He is ghostly pale and his eyes are nearly red. A trail of blood oozes from his ears. His chest has a gaping hole without the familiar blue shimmers.**_

"woah." Clint chokes. " why would he even take it out?"

"he didn't." the Russian spy says, trying to keep he roman accent out. "Jarvis?"

"yes, miss romanoff?"

"show them the last time Obadiah met tony without the suit."

Jarvis starts the video without a word.

 _ **"tony is talking to pepper on a phone when a sound is heard and he goes pale and still. He falls on the sofa, with an old man supporting him.**_

"who is the man?" thor asks.

Natasha speaks lightly, "that is the man who treated tony like his own child, he is Obadiah stane. Or was."

Steve gulps a ball of nausea in his throat.

" _ **Obadiah comes closer to tony and removes his earplugs.**_

 _ **He taunts tony a little and yanks the reactor painfully out of his chest."**_

Before the avengers can say anything, a voice wakes them out of their reverie .

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!"

Every single avenger, no matter how well trained jumps and looks behind to see tony.

His fists are clenched together and he looks more broken than angry. Natasha quickly shuts down the player but its too late ;tony has seen Obadiah.

"I NEED AN ANSWER."

"tony calm down." Natasha steps forward.

"HOW THE HELL CAN I CALM DOWN!"tony seems on the verge of panic now.

Steve puts a hand to his shoulder.

"tony we are your teammates ,we have a right to know." He soothes him.

"THERE IS A LIMIT!" he stomps out of the room.

Natasha can only sigh.' _What mess have we gotten ourselves into_.'


	6. Chapter 6

**yoodlie! ummm... i kinda dont have much to say today, so we can begin the story right away.**

"Steve, we should give him time." Natasha thrusted a hand on his shoulder.

"but nat, you know how stubborn he can get!" steve complained.

" but you know," she let her gaze drop on the floor. "what we did…" she sighed. "was wrong. We have no right to harrumph his privacy. No matter how close we are."

Steve gaped at her . it wasn't like Natasha to be apologetic.

Suddenly red alarm blared throughout the tower.

" code red. Avengers assemble." Steve forced his voice back to normal.

(you are jumping a timebarrier xx a timebarrier…)

Few minutes later, the avengers is on their way to marian street. A masked man is creating havoc and he is powerful.

"tony..i am…we are s-" bruce tried to apologize, but tony waved them away. He looked angry. Of course.

Natasha enters the cabin and drops her eyes on tony for a bit. He is looking outside. She begins to talk.

"the man is a winged one. He looks like an ugly goblin. he releasing magical waves. Thor?"

"he must be a ledusk."

"what are ledusks?" natasha inquired.

" they are magical beasts from niflehiem . the land of death. They are strong, but I can defeat them. The beasts are normally weak after this time of the day."

Natasha nods. Then she goes and sits beside tony.

"ummm…. Tony, we are sorry….."

"shut up."

Natasha widens her eyes in surprise.

"you don't get to say anything. I don't trust you anymore. I just came here for the mission, I can fly away."

Natasha gets up and shoots a look at his teammates. They look at her hopelessly.

" we are about to land." Natasha speaks a few minutes later.

(I am skipping the mission… skipping the mission. Coz' its boring boring boring.)

The avengers minus tony are standing at a pile of destruction, waiting for the quinjet.

"does anyone have a visual on tony?" clint asks. Its un-clint-like to worry, but he knows how self harming tony can be.

"he probably went home, he is still bugged." Steve consoles clint.

"yeah" and they board the jet.

(I tell u dis is tony's pov)

Tony flies towards his tower. He nearly collapses as he lands.

 _Shit._


	7. Chapter 7

tony hoisted himself with the pores hollowed his vision."sir?"  
"m'fine j, ..." his eyes drooped and he fell unconscious.  
(the gooooooofy avengers paaaart)  
Bruce drinks his cup of tea silently. Clint is talking to Natasha . Thor is wiping mjolnir and Steve, is being steve... All avengers are quite depressed.  
" where the hell is stark!" Steve seems more angry than depressed.  
"Steve," Clint soothes him." we have made a mistake, admit it. He needs his space."  
"yeah, but he should be back at the tower!"  
Clint sighs and decides to ignore steve's protest.  
Out of the blue, Jarvis rings them out.  
" there is an intruder in the tower.  
He is releasing magic waves. "  
Natasha looks at the ceiling.  
" where is stark? We need his help out of this one."  
"sir is currently passed out on the landing pad."  
"what! Why didn't you tell us?"  
"he asked me not to tell. However, he never asked me not to reply if one of you asks."  
Clint smirks. Natasha punches his cheek.  
" Steve, go to tony. See if he needs anything. We will look after Loki. Jarvis , inform fury."  
"already done agent romanoff"  
Its natasha's turn to smile.  
Lolololololololol  
Steve rushes towards tony. The familiar glow of the reactor is currently not so bright.  
"tony!" Steve is desperate.  
He doesn't budge.  
"Jarvis, his vitals!"  
"sir has fainted from exhaustion and panic. He currently is having a light gash at his stomach and the reactor is lightly damaged."  
Steve turns tony's body and gasps when he sees blood.  
"why didn't he tell us?"  
" sir doesn't trust you anymore."


	8. Chapter 8

**hey guys; okay, i gave my first exam. And then i am er writing. The next one is on Friday, the day before is gonna be tough. Hindi is tough!**

the words hit Steve like the arrows Clint shoots. A dull ache started in his heart. He was brought back to earth by a tiny click. It was a microscopic sound, almost unaudible even for the super soldier. He turned his head back to tony to see that the arc reactor had stopped glowing

(poky poky poky avengerzzzzz)

the avengers went in the living room( told by jarvis)

it was empty.

"Jarvis, where is he?" Natasha asked softly.

" the _magic_ waves and the man are no longer present in the room. The tower is also free from such waves

"shit man!" Clint exclaimed. " he created a distraction!"

bruce glared at him, then the ceiling.

" Jarvis? Are Steve and tony okay?"

( d landin paddddd)

the avengers rush towards the landing pad. Tony is lying on the floor. There is a pool of blood around him. The arc reactor is not glowing resulting in terrible pallor in tony's skin. Steve is not present.

" where in the world is Steve!" Bruce has a dangerous amount of blue tinge in his eyes.

" captain rogers has gone to the lab to fetch the extra reactor." Jarvis deadpans.

Bruce takes a deep breath and turns towards tony. It is difficult to say whether the pallor is a result of the bloodloss or the decapacitated reactor. He sends Natasha to fetch his bag.

' _please be okay._ '


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey!**  
 **First of all. A large , big, sorry! I nearly abandoned this story! Sorry! Sorry! Sorry!**  
 **But, I never abandon. So I am back!**  
 **The actual problem was that I got a lot of ideas, wrote fics about it. And then I get reviews, then I continue. So actually this story was buried under a pile of fics.**  
 **P.s } after comepleting this fic, maybe after this chapter, I will rewrite this fic. Because I wrote it when I just joined ffn, my writing style was poor. I promise to write better!**  
 **But first, comepleting this.**  
 **Alert! Too big authors note! Too big authors note!**  
 ***sigh* here goes nothing.**

Natasha watched with hidden amazement as bruce worked . His hands seemed to have a life on their own.  
His face , though, was a tumult of emotions.  
Guilt.  
Confusion.  
Panic.  
And if the tiny one was anger, Natasha would never know.  
'we messed up.' Natasha thought. It was her mistake. She made them watch the videos. She had no right.  
Natasha watched as bruce fitted the reactor back after bandaging his wounds. Steve stood solemnly by his side.  
Natasha wasnt a kid, but she really wanted time travel to be true now.  
Tony's body jerked, he gasped, but the brown eyes always full of mischief did not open.  
Natasha found herself pining for them.  
Natasha wanted their old Tony. The one who appeared during late nights with bags under his eyes. The one who loved to step against the orders.  
Not this one, silent and lifeless.  
"help me put him in the bedroom." bruce turned towards the super soldier. Steve picked Tony in his arms, while trying his best not to jostle his wounds.  
He looked so frail, weak...that Steve wanted to gag. Steve could feel the stress of the last few hours wash over him. He would never forget the haunting look of betrayal in Tony's eyes.  
Steve layed Tony on the bed, lightly as possible, eyes reflecting every form of guilt. The avengers followed him to the room.  
"anyone with a nice idea?" clint asked, expression strikingly same as Steve.  
"what do you mean?" Steve asked. His voice was wet. While people would have paid to see the dopey eyes of Steve, now wasnt the time.  
"I mean, how do we win his trust back?"  
Bruce wrinkled his brow in confusion. He seemed deep in thought. Thor didnt even look at clint, he was ruffling tony's hair.  
Steve jerked with realization.  
"why dont we ask miss potts?"

 **This was small. But I am back! Yay! I am gonna finish this fic!**  
 **Avengers bashing coming up!**


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